Star-Crossed Rivals || [Keith x Reader]

The day after pt2

꧁────────♡-♡-♡────────꧂

"What?"

"I said fight me, Keith," you replied.

The atmosphere around him totally shifted, his eyes narrowed and his head tilted slightly to the side. He must think you were threatening him, which you kind of did, but not for the reason he thought. That must have been how the other students, especially James, experienced him at the Garrison when they were picking fights, you thought. Lucky you, he always seemed approachable to you back then.

"I need you to teach me how to fight," you elaborated. He untensed when he realized what you were actually talking about.

"We have the Gladiator for that," he dismissed your proposal and turned around with an eye-roll.

You went after him and grabbed his arm to make him stay. "Please, I need you to explain the basics first. The Gladiator's not gonna do that."

You saw by the look on his face that he was not convinced. "Weren't you mad at me just yesterday morning for assuming you weren't competent enough to defend yourself? And now you're begging me to teach you the basics? I'm not gonna do it either."

"Well yeah, we were talking about little Arusians then. This is different."

He gave you a deadpan look as he tried to yank his arm out of your grip but you kept it in place, not letting go. You didn't feel ashamed of pleading with him when you thought about what you were doing it for. Your pride was not more important than the survival of the team and you didn't know why Keith was not thinking like that either. He might not care about your survival but surely he'd know that Voltron was dependent on each one of you?

"Please," you pleaded, getting closer. He backed away but you closed the distance again, now being only a few inches away from him. "I need to improve my combat fighting. Don't you think it'll affect the team if I don't?" you tried reasoning with him.

You looked into his flushed face as he backed away again. You stood there, waiting for his response but when he said nothing, you spoke again.

"Look, if I can't fight for myself, how will I ever be able to protect anyone else? If you're not doing it for me, do it for the rest of the team."

He bit on his lips, thinking it over. You fiddled with your fingers, watching him contemplate for a few seconds. "Please?" you mumbled, leaning in. "I'll do you a favor too if you ever need one."

"Okay, fine," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Wait, really?!" You couldn't contain your smile, feeling relieved that he actually agreed.

"Yes," he replied, sighing, "but only for an hour a day."

"Deal!" you exclaimed, holding out your pinky finger in front of him. He tilted his head in confusion, furrowing his brows. "What are you doing?"